My Life In Movies Flashes Before My Eyes: Steel Magnolias, 1989

I think this is one of those movies that's required viewing in the south, like Gone With The Wind. It even has a first half hour that most men will sit quietly through because Tom Skerritt is trying to get birds out of the trees for his daughter's reception utilizing firearms and fireworks. Also, there's a groom's cake in the shape of an armadillo made out of red velvet. It is hilarious.

But this movie is about the women. There's Shirley MacLaine as Ouiser.("I'm not crazy, I've just been in a very bad mood for forty years!") Olympia Dukakis as Clairee (Well, you know what they say: if you don't have anything nice to say about anybody, come sit by me!) Dolly Parton as the hair salon owner, Truvy ("There is no such thing as natural beauty."). Sally Field as M'Lynn Eatonton, Shelby's mother. ("Oh how pretentious is this wedding going to get I ask you? That sanctuary looks like it's been hosed down with Pepto Bismol!") Daryl Hannah, looking for most of the film as mousy as Darryl Hannah gets, which is not much, as Annelle ("Miss Truvy, I promise that my personal tragedy will not interfere with my ability to do good hair.) Finally, Julia Roberts as Shelby, the bride in our wedding, M'Lynn's daughter ("My colors are blush and bashful.") Best of all, Julia Roberts isn't even annoying in this movie. She does the laughing thing once, but I don't think she can help that.

We spend about a third of the film in the business leading up to the wedding and most of that, like the rest of the film, takes place in Truvy's beauty parlor. In this first part, we learn about Shelby's health problems and that she may never be able to have children. The next Christmas we learn that she is pregnant, to M'Lynn's dismay given the health concerns. The story picks up again later as M'Lynn is about to give Shelby a kidney and later to Shelby's death. We also follow the course of Truvy's relationship with her husband and Annelle's born again Christian-ness. All of the women in this movie are genuinely hilarious except Julia Roberts because it's hard to be funny while you're dying. Although, it is good to be funny at a funeral. Also, this movie is seriously quotable, I had a hard time picking out just those and I would just post the whole movie from YouTube if I could, but let's stick with this scene which illustrates the deftness with which this movie goes from tears to laughter.



I'll admit it, I am a sucker for this movie. I've watched it more times than I can count and I still cried when I watched it today. Truly, Sally Field will break your heart in this movie and you will be going over the dialogue in your head for days. Not to mention that thing with the groom's cake will just stay with you forever. I do love it, please begin your ridicule in the comments section. Or please share anything you love about this film. Go!

My Life In Movies Flashes Before My Eyes: Blade Runner, 1982

So, at the beginning of May Fandango Groovers Movie Blog issued a challenge. Pick your favorite movie for every year since the year you were born. Fandango Groovers A Life In Movies

Sounded like fun, but I didn't quite have time to do it and I had to of course, compile a list. So, here's what I'm going to do. I turn 29 (don't remind me) on September 1. So, throughout the course of this summer, I am going to go through my favorite movies from 1982 to 2011 and give you my impressions of them. Now, this is favorite not the best, which will become very apparent at some points. Sometimes I will pick something that was clearly not the best film of that year, but happens to be my favorite and you will just have to deal with that.

Starting here. 1982. The Falklands War, EPCOT opens, I am born and several weeks later my parents take me to see Pink Floyd: The Wall. If only that explained everything. Some other decent movies also came out this year: E.T., Gandhi and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which almost made this post, but in the end I decided on this one. But that film is still completely awesome.


Blade Runner is the story of Rick Deckard, played by Harrison Ford, who is a sort of bounty hunter for Replicants, sort of doing a whole film noir thing in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. Usually, I'm terrified of post-apocalyptic scenarios but this one is okay because there still appears to be Coca Cola available. Anyway, Harrison is out hunting a group of Replicants that have bizarrely come to Earth because Replicants are illegal on Earth and he has to kill them, but it's not supposed to matter because they're not people. Or are they?

So, he goes to the Tyrell Corporation where he meets Rachel, a Replicant who doesn't know she's a Replicant because they've given her the memory implants of the CEO's niece. So, it's like the Ganger episode of Doctor Who with the Library episode of Doctor Who with maybe a little bit of The Island in there. This starts Harrison questioning everything, whether or not they're people and that's the central question of this film: what makes a human being? This question becomes more profound as we follow the other Replicants on Earth, two of whom are played by Rutger Hauer and Daryl Hannah with alternate terror and heartbreak. It's brilliant. Also, can I just mention, if science fiction has taught us anything it's that building/cloning/lobotomizing people/things and making them your slaves is BAD. Hear me, future generations? BAD!

Now, I just rewatched the theatrical cut which is controversial because it has this annoying voiceover that it doesn't really need. Unless you're an idiot. I don't know, maybe you are, but you'd be unlikely to know you were an idiot... There are at least two other cuts I can think of and you can buy a big DVD box set with all of them, including I don't know how many Ridley Scott director's cuts. This makes you wonder what the hell it all means. Last year at the Austin Film Festival, one of the honorees was one of this film's writers, David Peoples was there and at the awardee panel, another honoree, Robert Rodriguez saved me the embarassment of asking about that when he asked, "Yeah, which version is right? Was he really a Replicant?" To which David Peoples said that this film still isn't finished. Which I kind of like, but I can see how that might be frustrating.

Also, you can actually buy the umbrellas from this movie at Think Geek! I am considering it if it ever rains in Texas again.

Blade Runner Style LED Umbrella